Two Dead in Shooting at Kentucky College Parking Lot

Domestic dispute becomes violent outside of community college

Members of the Perry County Sheriff Office respond to the scene at Hazard Community College on Tuesday night, Jan. 15, 2012, after a shooting at the school in Hazard, Ky. Authorities say two people were shot and killed and a teen was wounded in the parking lot of the eastern Kentucky community college. (AP Photo/The Ashland Daily Independent, Joshua Ball)

HAZARD, Ky. (AP) — A gunman who fired into a vehicle, killing a man and a woman and wounding a teenage girl, has been charged with murder and attempted murder in a shooting police blamed on a domestic dispute.

The violence late Tuesday in a college parking lot locked down the campus for more than an hour as police searched the two buildings of Hazard Community and Technical College in Hazard, in southeast Kentucky, to ensure there was no further danger.

Hazard Police Chief Minor Allen told WYMT-TV (http://bit.ly/90edyY ) the shooting resulted from a dispute between the alleged gunman and a woman who was one of those killed, 20-year-old Caitlin Cornett. He did not say how they or the other victims were related.

Allen said Dalton Stidham, 21, was charged with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. Allen identified the male victim as Jackie Cornett, 53. The teenager's name was not released.

In a statement late Tuesday, college officials said they did not think the school was specifically targeted or that any of the people involved in the shooting were either students or employees of the college.

College President Stephen Greiner said that at the time of the shooting, there were probably about 30 students on campus.

Police recovered the weapon, a semiautomatic pistol, at the scene, Allen said.

The man and woman were already dead when police arrived about 6 p.m., Allen said. The wounded 17-year-old girl was taken to University of Kentucky Hospital, he said.

Conor Duff, the college's evening coordinator, said the outbreak of violence was startling.

"Everybody here's been pretty shook up," he said. "This is definitely something people around here are not used to. We have our fair share of problems, but normally this isn't one of them."